Because the creation of a new sanitary regulation in Mexico will take more than three months, it will be almost impossible to resume exports of fresh Honduran shrimp to the North American country this year.

Mexico's blockade of Honduran shrimp imports has been in effect since October 20 last year, after Mexican authorities cited the presence of yellow head disease in the product purchased.

In the first quarter of the year, companies in the country exported $32 million worth of frozen shrimp and langoustine, registering a 64% increase with respect to exports in the same period in 2017.

Figures from the information system on theFrozen Shrimp and Langoustine Market in Nicaragua, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]

In the first quarter of the year, Central American countries exported $90 million worth of frozen shrimp and langoustine, which is 76% more than in the same period in 2017, mainly due to sales to the US and Taiwan.

Figures from the information system on the Market for Frozen Shrimp and Langoustine in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]

The company Aquafinca announced that it plans to increase production of tilapia fillets by 40%, with an investment of between $10 and $15 million starting from 2019.

Fabricio López, manager of the company, assured the Honduran media that currently they produce about 28 thousand tons of tilapia fillet, and that with the planned investment they will increase total production by 40%, with the objective of serving new markets, such as the Caribbean.

New requirements that Mexican authorities intend to place on shrimp imports cultivated in Honduras do not indicate, at least in the short term, that there will be an eventual suspension of the blockade.

After the country registered sales for $282 million in 2017, the sector's union expects this year to surpass what was reported in the previous period by 2%.

<span dir="ltr">Explained by the good performance in exports of cultivated shrimp, crab and live lobster, during the first three months of the year, the Nicaraguan Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Inpesca) expects the sector to register an increase compared to 2017.

In the first nine months of 2017, Honduras exported $185 million worth in shrimp and frozen shrimp, 30% more than in the same period in 2016.

Figures from the information system on the Shrimp and Frozen Shrimp Market in Honduras, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]

Between January and March, sales abroad totaled $16 million, which is equivalent to an 86% increase with respect to exports registered in the same period in 2017.

The increase registered during the first months of the year is explained by an increase in the volume sold coupled with an increase in the average price, which rose from $4.1 per kilogram recorded in the first quarter of 2017, to $6 per kg reported in the same 2018 period.

In 2017, the value of Central American sales of fish, molluscs and crustaceans to companies in Mexico amounted to $69 million, 19% more than was exported in 2016.

Figures from the information system on the the Market for Fish, Molluscs and Crustaceans in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with graph"]

Manufacturing, fishery and aquaculture exports accounted for most of the 60% increase in sales from Chile to Panama between 2016 and 2017.

Exports in the fishing sector include salmon and trout, which grew by 46% in the period in question, going from $6.2 million in 2016 to $9 million in 2017, according to figures from a report by the country's South American trade promotion body, ProChile.

Between January and September of 2017, Central American countries exported $275 million worth of frozen shrimp and langoustine, 22% more than in the same period in 2016.

Figures from the information system on the Market for Shrimp and Frozen Langoustine in CentralAmerica compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graph"]